Political Vuvuzela

Zimbabwe/South Africa: "A strange message..."

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 08:58:58 +0200

I was reading the Zimbabwe Situation website, which is a great source of information on what is going on in Zim these days that collects all the stories about the situation in Zimbabwe and publishes them, when I found this very interesting little article. I have posted the entire piece here for you to make up your own minds but I find the whole thing both very worrying and very interesting, if what it says is true.

The problem with autonomous sources is that one never knows if what they are saying is true or if it is just subterfuge. In this instance I am inclined to believe that there is a strong element of truth in all of this as anyone with access to this sort of information would not want to openly put his/her name out there for fear of reprisals, something which has happened quite a few times before in South Africa.

A strange message..

Sent: Monday, April 28, 2008 12:10 PM
Subject: Urgent Message - Must read!!!

Dear Friends:

I write you on a very urgent matter. Please read the attached document, which was sent to me by "O." I am not revealing his full name because I do not know if doing so would compromise his position (this is because I do not know who this person is). Prior to the SADC 'extraordinary summit' that President Mwanawasa called to address the situation in Zimbabwe, I sent an e-mail to Mukoni Ratshitanga (Mr. Ratshitanga is President Thabo Mbeki's spokesperson).

Today, I received this e-mail from "O" which had an attachment. When I opened that attachment, I found an attached e-mail that had been forwarded from Ratshitanga to "O". Attached to that message that Ratshitanga sent to "O," was a 22 page document. Ratshitanga's message to "O" was:

Dear "O"

It's been a long time since we spoke. I have just finished reading the attached paper by Eddy Maloka and Prof Magubane. Please read it and let's discuss - maybe I can come your way on May Day.

Regards
Mukoni

The forwarded document ("Document") is a position paper entitled "Zimbabwe an International Pariah! What are the Revolutionary Tasks of the South African Democratic Movement?" written by Edward Maloka and Ben Magubane. The Document purports to analyze the current situation in Zimbabwe through the lens and perspective of the African Liberation movement generally, and South Africa specifically. The authors argue that Zimbabwe's situation is being framed by the western media in such a way that it distorts the actual state of affairs there. While admitting that Mugabe/ZANU PF may have reacted in a repressive fashion against the population, the authors conclude that as a result of Africa's natural resources, western nations are opposed to any government stemming from the liberation struggle. In discussing the efforts of western nations to thwart liberation based governments, the Document states:

"With regard to the latter, this has already found expression in the attempt to persuade sections of our movement to repudiate the mediation work in which our Government has been engaged with regard to Zimbabwe, with the full support of our region, Africa and the rest of the non-aligned world.

Accordingly, in its own interest, our movement will have to abandon all illusion and understand that the sustained offensive to defeat ZANU PF is but a curtain-raiser to what will inevitably follow a sustained offensive to defeat our very own movement!"

Document p. 19 (emphasis in original)

In discussing how to react to this perceived threat, the Document's authors argue that the following steps must be taken:

* vigorously and unequivocally defend the gains of our Democratic Revolution;
* defend our country's democratically elected Government;
* defend ZANU PF in Zimbabwe; and,
* work to strengthen the African and global anti-imperialist movement.

Document p.19-20

I have no idea why "O" forwarded me this e-mail from Ratshitanga. It could be that : (1) "O" is somebody sympathetic to the plight of Zimbabweans; (2) the e-mail was inadvertently sent to me; or (3) some other reason unknown to me. However, I think that there are some very serious questions raised by the fact that President Mbeki's spokesperson is interested in discussing the viewpoint expressed in the Document.

Some of the questions that Mbeki needs to answer - especially in light of his position on the Security Council and as SADC's designated mediator -- are whether he agrees with the position taken by the authors of the Document. To whit: The West's current stance on Zimbabwe is but a stepping stone to turning South Africa into a "client state"? Does he believe that he must protect ZANU-PF?

I'm sending this Document to you in order that it may be distributed to as wide an audience as possible. My initial reaction is that this Document should be brought to the attention of as many journalists and politicians as possible. Mbeki needs to explain why people under his direct control find it necessary to disseminate and discuss a policy paper that clearly espouses protecting a repressive regime when he is supposed to be a neutral arbitrator.

Should it be necessary, I am willing to discuss disclosing the identity of "O". In addition, the Document was sent to me in Microsoft Word format. "Word" documents contain "metadata" that can be accessed to show when the document was created and every revision that was ever made to it. I do not know at this point how to access the metadata, but doing so may show a wealth of information about the authors' thinking. Please feel free to contact me with further questions.

Best regards,

N

You can download and read the document in its entirety here.

If this document is genuine then it provides valuable insight into how the ANC, particularly Mbeki's faction of the ANC, view the world (which I must say is a pretty twisted and hypocritical way to look at the world). It also indicates that the ANC implicitly thinks of its self as having a genuine right, along with other 'liberation movements' in Africa, to rule their respective countries for ever regardless of what their people think.

Whilst we all now know that Zimbabwe was just a one time democracy (for one day in 1980), could this mean that South Africa was also just a one time democracy like Zimbabwe (for one day in 1994)?

Source:
*The Zimbabwe Situation: http://www.zimbabwesituation.com

Political Vuvuzela

Zimbabwe/South Africa: "A strange message..."

Blog access blocked... again

Finaly free to blog! \o/

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